UWP 101 — Advanced Composition with Dr. Andy Jones
Syllabus | Assignment #1 | Assignment #2 | Assignment #3
Response Assignment #1 (Percy) | Response Assignment #2 (O’Gieblyn) | Response Assignment #3 (Griffin)
Diagnostic Writing Assignment | Points of Clarification | The Questionnaire
CRN: 80736 (Section 7)
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00-10:20
Place: 93 Hutchison
Instructor: Dr. Andy Jones
Office: 353 Voorhies (with a backup office at Surge II)
Phone: 752-3408 (answered during office hours)
Office Hours: Tuesdays from 1-2 and Wednesdays 10-11, and many Sunday evenings from about 9:30-11:00 PM at Crepeville (3rd and C Streets in Davis). I will sometimes be available for quick consultations right after class.
E-mail: aojones@ucdavis.edu
Twitter: @andyojones (Links to an external site.) (best way to get an immediate response)
Resources and Other Pages Mentioned in Class
Latest Version of Common Marginal Comments and their Meanings (Links to an external site.)
Places that one might tour for assignment number one
“Dispatch from Flyover Country” by Meghan O’Gieblyn
Student-Researched Revision Strategies (a wiki to which you may add)
Motivating Moves (Links to an external site.) (Yale)
For Essay #2: What are the distinguishing characteristics of your place, and how do those characteristics support the claim you make about it? How is this place different from any other such place? What do YOU notice about this place as an observer, analyst, and author that others would not see? Discuss THAT to distinguish your essay from the commonplace and expected. Let your essay show a clear and causal relationship between the place and its function.
Checklist for Essay #2 (Links to an external site.)
thesecretofgoodwritingistostrip-150219084132-conversion-gate02 copy.pdf
Sections of the collage essay. (Links to an external site.)
The Writing Process (Links to an external site.)
Course Description: UWP 101 is an advanced composition course for upper-division students planning to attend graduate school or enter the job force. The course focuses primarily on continuing your development as proficient writers of exposition; you will be reading challenging and engaging essays, writing responses and papers, and studying thinking and writing processes. If you attend class regularly, pay close attention to my comments on your essays, and invest ample time and energy in writing and revising the major assignments, you will leave this course with improved writing skills and with an appreciation for the importance of good writing skills. This course also requires that students practice thinking and writing creatively and independently, and that they practice working in collaborative groups and “in the field.”
Course Goals for Students in UWP 101: To build upon and reinforce writing lessons already learned about the elements of an essay (argument, organization, support for assertions, style, and mechanics), with a special emphasis on addressing individual challenges with clarity, usage, syntax and diction; to make new discoveries in modes of critical and creative thinking; to adapt well to increasingly challenging writing assignments; to express substantive ideas confidently and effectively in writing and in person; to use communications and collaboration technologies in support of these goals; and to consider how these accomplished goals will help prepare the advanced undergraduate writer for writing tasks in graduate programs and on the job. Your final goal should be to do well in our class: students must earn a C- or higher in order for the class to meet the Upper-Division Writing Requirement.
Prerequisites: Satisfactory completion of the Subject A requirement and a passing grade in one of the following: UWP 1 or English 3 or its equivalent. Students enrolled in the College of Letters and Science or in the College of Engineering must have completed a minimum of 84 units before enrolling in UWP 101.
Required Texts:
A writing handbook (from your collection, or purchased new or secondhand)
Online writing textbooks of your choosing (to be discussed in class)
Most other readings are available via class handouts.
Attendance: Regular attendance in UWP 101 is essential; the emphasis of the class on the process of writing demands it. For that reason, you should choose to attend each class meeting. Unexcused absences may hurt your final grade. If you must miss a class – say, because of a serious illness – please let me know in advance. Except with prior agreement or in cases of emergency, in-class work, such as pop quizzes and incidental writing assignments, cannot be made up. You will, of course, be responsible for collecting any out-of-class assignments and resources discussed in your absence, so make friends in the class now. Our class meets twice a week in 93 Hutchison. If you foresee having to miss two classes, a week’s worth of instruction, you should enroll in a different writing class. Class syllabi are subject to change and augmentation. Email me with questions, and plan to attend my copious office hours (offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and most Sundays).
Writing Assignments: The course requires students to use Canvas to submit writing assignments totaling 6,000 words, which will be divided over three essays, three short responses to assigned readings, and a midterm and a final exam. You must submit all essays and take the final exam in order to pass the course. Late essays will not be accepted after the day of the final exam. For each assignment, in the top-left corner of page one, write your name, the course number and date, a word count and the number of “to be” verbs used. Title your documents FirstName-LastName-AssignmentTitle.doc. I will return short essays within one week of submission, and long essays within two weeks. Please review Points of Clarification before submitting each essay for this class. It explains that I require a word count, completed questionnaire, and process log with each of the major essays. Use Canvas, not email, to submit assignments.
Office Hours: Visit me during office hours to discuss your writing concerns, my comments or grades on returned work, and your ongoing projects. Additional office hours will be held Sunday evenings starting around 9:30 PM at Crepeville (330 3rd Street).
The Use of Email and In-Class Computers: You are encouraged to use email to ask questions, request clarification regarding assignments, and receive feedback on your ideas from class participants and from me. If you require an immediate response, consider sending me a tweet at @andyojones. With regard to computers in the classroom, do not disrupt class activities, lectures or discussions with needless typing or mouse-clicking. Save personal use of the web and smartphones for before or after our class meeting time. Remember what Alexander Graham Bell said: “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” This means that you should keep your phone switched off and tucked away where it cannot be seen by its owner or by anyone else.
Late Work: Submit essays when due via Canvas. Rough drafts are due in class in digital form (via Canvas) on the days they are due, not after class. Final drafts are due before midnight on the day they are due. Late work will be penalized one grade fragment (A to A-, etc.) per day late. Because of the fast pace of the academic quarter, late submissions will receive fewer and later comments than those submitted on time.
Group work: Three times during the quarter, you will bring digital copies of rough drafts to critique in small groups. Failure to have a draft on assigned days will negatively affect the grade of your final assignment. Draft workshop absences count as two absences, and preclude the absent student from earning an “A” in class participation.
Grading: Papers will be graded according to the University Writing Program’s “General Grading Standards,” which will be thoroughly reviewed in class. All papers are graded equally; there is no curve. To pass the course (to get any grade higher than an F), you must hand in all graded essays and the final exam. Percentages are as follows:
Paper #1 (Percy) 15%
Paper #2 (O’Gieblyn) 20%
Paper #3 (Griffin) 25%
Short Response papers (3) 15%
Midterm Exam 5%
In-class work/ Participation 10%
Final Exam 10%
FINAL EXAM: The final exam for our section of UWP 101 takes place on Thursday, June 14 from 6:00-8:00p.m. in our classroom.
